Comments on: How Manly Men Can Fight Poverty

By: Nick S.

Nick S. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:05:57 +0000

If you are interested in microloans to third world countries you should check out:

http://www.kiva.com

During my last semester of classes one of my professors assigned us the website to create an ad campaign for and subsequently raise money for Kiva. It’s quick to sign up and get started. It really struck a chord with me and I can easily reccommend it.

By: Michael A.

Michael A. — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:31:34 +0000

This is one of the better entries I have read on your blog, which I find outstanding, overall.

One very practical, but commitment intensive way to break the poverty cycle is to adopt a child from foster care. While international adoption has become very popular, most communities have orphans and foster kids who, as they get older, have little hope of experiencing what most of us take for granted: They have no family. Most children who are in the foster system permanently will not be adopted at all if they have not been by the age of eight. This is particularly true of boys. What happens to these young men? Predictably, most will end up incarcerated, dead, or repeating the cycle with kids of their own winding up in the system.

My wife and I adopted a sibling group from foster care, and while our experience since has been exhausting and frustrating at times, the rewards of watching kids who spent their early years on the street grow into outstanding human beings (and members of a family) more than compensate for any frustration.

By: ogxxxku

ogxxxku — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:42:57 +0000

LSx2PP ykaoitiufbne, [url=http://iommrvsxlosa.com/]iommrvsxlosa[/url], [link=http://qokcwvrkuotp.com/]qokcwvrkuotp[/link], http://ciymkirnsmge.com/

By: Steve Grossman

Steve Grossman — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:33:59 +0000

You forgot one. Use your abilities to create wealth and/or jobs.

By: Zulu

Zulu — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:21:41 +0000

A great way to help in this matter is to join and participate in philanthropic organizations.
A manliness organization that has stood the test of time is the Freemasons; they have come to the relief of many throughout the centuries.
Many of our founding fathers, including George Washington, were masons who felt that is every man’s duty to improve the world we live in through brotherly love, relief & truth.
Most of your Granddads were masons as well as their fathers and so on.
I am a mason and have come to the aid of many through the efforts of my lodge including job training, food, shelter, medical aid, child and senior care and a host of other charitable acts.
Becoming a mason is no big mystery or cult as the media would have you believe; all you have to do is Google search â€˜Masonic lodge’ in your town and give them a call.
For those of you worried about Masonry as a religion, it is not.
Masons do believe in freedom of religion and that every man has the right to choose how he will worship in his own way.
My lodge consists of Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims and a wide variety of men who have come together in peace for one common purpose; to aid and assist those in distress.
Check out the Masons; you’ll be surprised how much they have done to help others.

A list of some great men who were/are Masonsâ€¦you’ll be in good company!
Jean Henri Dunant – Founder of the Red Cross
Sir Alexander Fleming -Inventor of Penicillin
Dr. Charles Mayo & Dr. William Mayo – Founders of the Mayo Clinic
James Smithson – Founder of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
George Washington
Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Benjamin Franklin
John Hancock
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin
Henry Ford
Nelson Mandela
David ‘Davy’ Crockett
Neil Armstrong
Lewis and Clark
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong
William “Count” Basie
Nat “King” Cole
Burl Ives
Francis Scott Key
Glenn Miller
Mel Blanc
Cecil B. DeMille
John “The Duke” Wayne
Bob Hope
Ty Cobb
Sugar Ray Robinson
Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain)
William Shakespeare
Booker T. Washington

By: Feli Galker

Feli Galker — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:54:56 +0000

“Join an international relief organization” – In Israel LIONS clubs are not (as in many other countries) for extra wealthy people. Through them it is possible to contribute and help the poor in many ways. Yet, while reporting the activities to the International Lions Clubs organization (www.lionsclubs.org) there is no “war against poverty” item to check. Yes there is a “homeless” item. But there are many who sleep under a roof yet are in desperate need of help, comodities, etc
If any of you readers is involved with this organization, this is a fact to improve.

By: Santa

Santa — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:07:53 +0000

This is so very true. It reminds me of the old proverb that says, “give a man a fish and you’ll have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and you have fed him for a lifetime.”

By: Noebie

Noebie — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:41:13 +0000

really great post – i like the practical suggestions!

By: justin

justin — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:11:59 +0000

Now social concerns has added to the quality of this blog.

I volunteer for Gawad Kalinga, http://www.gawadkalinga.org which basically ascribes to the same philosophy to help poor in the Philippines. We build communities (not just physical villages) but we don’t build it FOR those in need, we build it WITH them. There’s an essential difference between shelling out tons of material help to all the poor in the world and actually being with them, sharing your lives, giving love and care to people who are essentially ignored.

And the crazy thing is that the philosophy of “giving care” is what’s transforming a “third world” nation into something top notch.

When I was in the Philippines for 6 months volunteering I got to do some “manly” things I reckon, from learning how to answer nature’s call without clean water and toilet paper, how to mix cement with a shovel, how to refuse drinks at a beach party in 7am with “toughies,” endure mortifying living conditions, and such. But I did it because I loved the people I tried to help, and the trite irony of it all is that working with “the poor” actually lets them enrich our lives.

By: Sherry

Sherry — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:58:51 +0000

I really appreciate the practicality of this post. A lot of people want to help, but want to make sure it’s real help & not merely throwing money at the problem. World Vision is an organization that helps people become self-sufficient. It’s also easy to get your children involved in the excitement of truly helping people in need with the WV Gift Catalog.